“Your letter suggests an alternative project that would provide a new, 67-mile route that we expect would be much more expensive. A project of that magnitude could not be funded solely with traditional state and federal project dollars available to Ohio and Kentucky. Therefore, another revenue source would have to be found.”

“Only a limited amount of traffic would potentially divert to a bypass, so the end result would still include an over-burdened Brent Spence Bridge with safety and geometric deficiencies.”

“Relying solely on state and federal transportation dollars would consume so much of both states’ road funds as to be untenable and unrealistic. Therefore, tolls must be an element of the financing plan.”

The bottom line:

1. Even if the NKY United alternative was considered, it would cost more and would need tolling.

2. Transportation experts have stated it would not divert enough traffic and the dangerous conditions along the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor would still need to be resolved.

COVINGTON – Nearly 60 percent of Northern Kentucky residents support a plan to improve the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor that includes tolling to help pay for the project.

The poll – commissioned by the Build Our New Bridge Now Coalition – also found that most residents say the bridge is in poor condition and getting worse; that they are unlikely to vote against a legislator that supports the project; and that they would rather pay a toll than higher taxes.

“This poll – performed by a nationally-known and respected pollster — confirms that Northern Kentucky residents want a bridge corridor that is safer, less crowded and more efficient to travel, and they’ll pay a reasonable toll to improve conditions on a bridge that is unsafe and a constant source of gridlock,” said Matt Davis, director of the Build Our New Bridge Now Coalition, a broad-based partnership of businesses, government leaders, community groups, and individuals advocating for the bridge’s replacement.

The poll of 500 registered voters contacted who were contacted by phone and who live in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties was conducted Feb. 19-22 by Public Opinion Strategies, a national polling firm based in the Washington D.C. area that has done extensive work for several Kentucky elected officials and political committees. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.

Specifically, the poll found:

59 percent of residents would support a plan to improve the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor through a combination of tolls and federal and state funds.

57 percent say the quality of the bridge has “gotten worse” over the past few years.

70 percent of residents said voting for a toll plan would make either no difference or increase their chance of voting for a legislator.

By wide margins residents would rather pay a toll than increase other taxes: 85 percent oppose a gas tax increase; 76 percent oppose a local sales tax increase; and 87 percent oppose a property tax increase.

The polling results come as the Kentucky General Assembly considers House Bill 443, legislation that would allow Kentucky to create Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) to build major infrastructure projects.

A vote to approve the P3 legislation will not enact tolls on the bridge, but it will allow a P3 to potentially be used on the corridor project, Davis said. A financial plan for the project would then be developed, which could recommend tolls. The Kentucky General Assembly would then vote on the financial plan during the 2016 legislative session.

“Passage of P3 legislation will help accelerate the completion and lower the costs of major transportation projects in Kentucky”, Davis said. “House Bill 443 will allow one of the most important infrastructure projects in the history of our community to move forward with an innovative and proven approach.”

The 50-year-old Brent Spence Bridge is an unsafe, overcrowded span that carries more than 172,000 vehicles a day, more than double the capacity it was built to accommodate. Each day, 30,000 trucks carry more than $1 billion in freight across the bridge. Daily backups on the bridge contribute to gridlock, lost productivity, and dangerous, time-consuming commutes.

Further delays mean that every day we wait for a federal handout that is never coming is another day that 215,000 people travel across an outdated, overcrowded, and unsafe bridge.

WHEREAS, the State of Kentucky realizes an economic benefit as a result of an efficient transportation system; and
WHEREAS, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced in September 2006 that project cost estimates will increase from $700 million to approximately $2.5 billion if construction does not begin before 2015; and

WHEREAS, the Brent Spence Bridge was built over 43 years ago to carry a maximum daily traffic load of 75,000 vehicles and trucks, and now carries more than twice its design standard at 160,000 vehicles per day from two Interstate systems; and

WHEREAS, the annual crash rate per lane mile on the Brent Spence Bridge exceeds the Kentucky Interstate system accident rate by an astonishing 750 percent and has the 7th highest crash rate of all bridges nationwide; and

WHEREAS, Interstate 75, from the Canadian border to Miami, Florida, is one of the nation’s busiest north-south interstate routes, a main link in the nation’s commercial truck transportation system, and is an especially critical component in linking Kentucky’s businesses and manufacturers with our trading partners in Canada; and

WHEREAS, Interstate 71, from Akron, Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky, also serves as an economic stimulus for the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the Brent Spence Bridge is one of only fifteen major interstate bridges in the country labeled by the federal government as “functionally obsolete” for failure to meet safety or traffic flow standards, and operates at Level of Service “F” during peak periods; and

WHEREAS, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is already conducting its own feasibility study on the Brent Spence Bridge;
NOW, THEREFORE,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

Section 1. The House of Representatives urges Congress to accelerate the funding of the Brent Spence Bridge replacement project in Northern Kentucky to protect the health and safety of America’s motoring public as well as to safeguard this crucial commercial truck transportation link from Canada to Florida.

Section 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall forward a copy of this Resolution to each member of the Kentucky Congressional Delegation at his office in Washington, D.C.

The Build our New Bridge Now Coalition commissioned a economic impact analysis of the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement project a few years ago. This study was conducted by the Center for Economic Analysis and Development (CEAD) housed in the Haile/US Bank College of Business at Northern Kentucky University. The study presents estimates of the economic impact of the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement/Rehabilitation Project on the Ohio, Kentucky and Cincinnati metropolitan economies.

Summary of Results

The $2.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Replacement/Rehabilitation project is estimated to support 24,488 jobs throughout Kentucky and Ohio with most of the jobs (23,940 jobs) located in the Cincinnati MSA over the 10-year construction phase (an annual average of 2,448 jobs). These jobs will generate an estimated $1.9 billion in labor income across the two states with again most of the labor income occurring in the Cincinnati market ($1.8 billion). In addition to the economic activity generated within the region from the construction activity, fiscal impacts to the state and local jurisdictions will occur totaling an estimated $193.1 million.

]]>http://buildournewbridgenow.com/economic-impact-analysis-of-brent-spence-bridge-replacement-project/feed/0TBT – Opinion: Bridge more dangerous than burning buildinghttp://buildournewbridgenow.com/tbt-opinion-bridge-more-dangerous-than-burning-building/
http://buildournewbridgenow.com/tbt-opinion-bridge-more-dangerous-than-burning-building/#respondThu, 12 Feb 2015 15:59:15 +0000http://buildournewbridgenow.com/?p=4996This was an opinion published by the Cincinnati Enquirer on August 7, 2014. To read article click here

Buddy Wheatley, former Covington fire chief, is an attorney with Cook & Logothetis who represents the Covington, Newport and Kentucky Professional Firefighters.

Firefighters don’t like to complain about the everyday dangerous work they do. They figure “that’s what we get paid for, so no use making a fuss about it.” For the most part, standards, training, pre-planning and experience guide that routine work. Going into a burning building, swift water rescue maneuvers, frozen lake rescues, hazardous materials spills, bomb mitigation – all are rather routine for urban/suburban firefighters.

But then there’s emergency response to the Brent Spence Bridge. Nothing is routine. Water looms 75 feet below. There is no berm, no pull-off area to work from. Anxiety builds as fire trucks attempt to access the scene. Response is delayed whether emergency vehicles attempt to squeeze by jammed-up traffic from the rear of the accident or police block all four lanes to allow access from the front of the accident scene. Police officers face tremendous risks in bringing high-speed traffic to a complete halt. And that’s all before anyone makes contact with a crash-scene victim.

About 25 emergency responders from Covington, Newport and Fort Wright faced all of the above extreme hazards when they responded to the multivehicle crash scene Saturday. Like any emergency response to that bridge, it was far from routine. The accident scene included a half-dozen victims, including those in upper-deck vehicles who needed extrication and those in the car that caromed over the wall and fell 25 feet onto the lower deck below. Thankfully and amazingly, no one was seriously injured.

To this day, I consider responses to that bridge the most dangerous work I did in 20 years as a Covington firefighter. There’s no way to get hands-on training that emulates an emergency response on the Brent Spence.

The Covington Fire Department has, over the years, adapted its response to the bridge based on available equipment and manpower. Saturday’s accident stripped the city of every piece of emergency equipment from downtown to Company Eight on Church Street in Latonia.

Consider this: Covington police respond to an average of 650 accidents, disabled vehicles and other issues on the bridge each year. These responses are not only a great risk to emergency personnel, they also put high demands on Covington’s and surrounding cities’ emergency resources, leaving a significant portion of Northern Kentucky’s river cities residents in jeopardy of delayed responses.

It seems that political leaders and others mention the dangers to emergency responders almost in passing when they speak of reasons why the Brent Spence Bridge needs to be replaced. I think it should be the primary reason for taking immediate action on the bridge.

State transportation officials have said motorists are three to five times more likely to have a wreck along the Brent Spence Bridge corridor than any other section of interstate in Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana. One – perhaps more – of our emergency responders will be seriously injured or killed working an accident on the bridge if conditions aren’t improved. To me, that’s reason No. 1 why the bridge needs immediate replacement. ■

Buddy Wheatley

]]>http://buildournewbridgenow.com/tbt-opinion-bridge-more-dangerous-than-burning-building/feed/0Second accident in two days and second serious traffic crash in five months illustrate serious safety concerns on Brent Spence Bridgehttp://buildournewbridgenow.com/second-major-traffic-accident-in-five-months-illustrate-serious-safety-concerns-on-brent-spence-bridge/
http://buildournewbridgenow.com/second-major-traffic-accident-in-five-months-illustrate-serious-safety-concerns-on-brent-spence-bridge/#respondWed, 04 Feb 2015 20:42:41 +0000http://buildournewbridgenow.com/?p=4967COVINGTON – Motorists luckily escaped serious injury in another horrific accident this week on the Brent Spence Bridge. The incident starkly demonstrates why a new bridge is needed to improve safety of millions of people who travel the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor each year.

According to local news reports, four people were hospitalized Monday for significant but non-life threatening injuries following a four-vehicle crash on the northbound approach to the Brent Spence Bridge that started when a truck and car collided.

Emergency crews had to extricate four victims from a Chevy Impala that was crushed underneath a tractor-trailer. A 2,000-gallon tank truck that is used to clean portable toilets flipped over, but it did not rupture. Traffic was snarled for more than two hours.

Then on Tuesday morning, another accident in the northbound lanes near the bridge backed up traffic on Interstate 75/71 for 10 miles. The accident caused gridlock from Covington to Burlington Pike in Florence and added 45 minutes to an hour to the morning Northern Kentucky commute. Again, we are thankful no one was seriously hurt.

Remember in August, when the community witnessed one of the most frightening episodes in recent memory after a semi tractor-trailer knocked a car from the upper to the lower deck? Miraculously, none of the 8 people involved and sent to the hospital were seriously injured. How much longer can bridge opponents stand in the way of a safer Brent Spence Bridge Corridor?

While they are in Frankfort to complete part two of the legislative session, legislators cannot ignore the very real safety issues some of their constituents must deal with at least twice each day. Kentucky lawmakers can begin to craft a solution by passing legislation allowing Public Private Partnerships during the final six weeks of the Kentucky General Assembly 2015 legislative session.

A vote on P3 will not enact tolls on the bridge, but it will allow a P3 to potentially be used on the corridor project. A financial plan for the project would then be developed, and it would be voted on during the 2016 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

The 50-year-old Brent Spence Bridge is an unsafe, overcrowded span that carries more than 172,000 vehicles a day, more than double the capacity it was built to accommodate. Each day, 30,000 trucks carry more than $1 billion in freight across the bridge. Daily backups on the bridge contribute to gridlock, lost productivity, and dangerous, time-consuming commutes.

Further delays mean that every day we wait for a federal handout that is never coming is another day 215,000 people travel across an outdated, overcrowded, and unsafe bridge.

A poll commissioned by opponents of building a newer and safer Brent Spence Bridge Corridor has been thoroughly discredited by an independent third party expert as an unscientific and unreliable survey.

In a column written for the The Kentucky Enquirer, Ronald E. Langley, Ph.D., the director of the University of Kentucky Survey Research Center, said results of The Northern Kentucky United poll on the Brent Spence Bridge project as well as a statewide smoking ban legislation “are not likely to tell us what people in Northern Kentucky really think.”

Langley wrote that the pollster’s methodology was so flawed that the results cannot be considered legitimate. Instead of practices used by legitimate professional pollsters – such as interviewing respondents — bridge opponents hired a pollster that used an unreliable method of conducting more than 50,000 automated robo calls to Northern Kentucky residents.

“A key problem with this method is that you don’t really know who the respondents are, or even if they are adults,” Langley wrote. “This is the same technology that was used for the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Bluegrass Poll, which was off by double digits in predicting the McConnell/Grimes U.S. Senate race.

“Of larger concern, however, is that only households with landlines were included,” Langley continued. “As of the end of 2013, over 40 percent of all households in each of these three counties were cell phone only. Don’t those people’s opinions count? Alas, robo-polls that, like telemarketers, use auto-dialers cannot by law be used to dial cell phones. Legitimate attempts to determine the preferences of Northern Kentucky residents … would have used a methodology that didn’t exclude nearly half the population.”

“The flawed ‘polling’ can be added to the growing list of actions and assertions that leads one to question the legitimacy of the arguments bridge opponents have been making about the Brent Spence Bridge project,” said Matt Davis, director of the Build Our New Bridge Now Coalition, a broad-based partnership of businesses, labor organizations, government leaders, community groups, and individuals advocating for the bridge’s replacement.

“The bridge opponents’ ‘poll,’ like many of their arguments and claims, are not valid or serious,” Davis said. “Bridge opponents are willing to say anything to delay the construction of a bridge that will improve safety and create thousands of jobs. Commissioning and releasing this type of ‘poll’ is shortsighted and dangerous.”

“When Kentucky lawmakers return to Frankfort this week for the remaining six weeks of the Kentucky General Assembly session, they need to disregard this bogus ‘poll’ and enact legislation that would allow Public Private Partnerships, also known as P3, which will accelerate the completion of construction and lower the cost of transportation projects like the Brent Spence Bridge,” he said.

A vote on P3 will not enact tolls on the bridge, but it will allow a P3 to potentially be used on the corridor project. A financial plan for the project would then be developed, and it would be voted on during the 2016 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

The 50-year-old Brent Spence Bridge is an unsafe, overcrowded span that carries more than 172,000 vehicles a day, more than double the capacity it was built to accommodate. Each day, 30,000 trucks carry more than $1 billion in freight across the bridge. Daily backups on the bridge contribute to gridlock, lost productivity, and dangerous, time-consuming commutes.

Further delays mean that every day we wait for a federal handout that is never coming is another day that 215,000 people travel across an outdated, overcrowded, and unsafe bridge.

]]>http://buildournewbridgenow.com/bridge-opponents-poll-discredited-again/feed/0Kentucky Enquirer report: Southern Kenton County residents want to protect homes, maintain rural communityhttp://buildournewbridgenow.com/kentucky-enquirer-report-southern-kenton-county-residents-want-to-protect-homes-and-maintain-rural-community/
http://buildournewbridgenow.com/kentucky-enquirer-report-southern-kenton-county-residents-want-to-protect-homes-and-maintain-rural-community/#respondTue, 03 Feb 2015 19:56:49 +0000http://buildournewbridgenow.com/?p=4941Highway being pushed by Brent Spence opponents would bring suburban sprawl, dramatic change to the south end of the county

Residents of rural southern Kenton County have made clear that they don’t want the traffic and development that a new highway being pushed by Brent Spence Bridge opponents would bring to their community.

Here is an excerpt from a Feb. 1 Kentucky Enquirer article on John Stanton, the new Kenton County Director of External Affairs:

“Stanton has already been to a meeting of Southern Kenton County residents, along with Commissioner Beth Sewell and other Kenton County staff. The neighbors are determined to maintain the rural nature of their part of the county, and to protect their homes and farms and land.”

Over the last two weeks, Brent Spence Bridge opponents have called for construction of a new road directly through the farms and rural communities of southern Kenton County, a notion that would completely destroy the character of the community by attracting suburban sprawl, “big box” development, and increased traffic. Bridge opponents still offer no solution to replacing the 52-year-old Brent Spence Bridge, which is dangerous, overcrowded, and a daily source of traffic gridlock.

The people of southern Kenton County don’t want a highway cutting through miles of what is now a rural community. Those pushing for alternatives to the Brent Spence Corridor plan have offered no plans on how to pay for a new road, nor have they explained how the project would solve the safety and traffic problems that continue to accrue on the Brent Spence Bridge.

“Now is not the time for wild speculation about new roads that do nothing to address the core issues of safety and gridlock on the Brent Spence Corridor,” said Matt Davis, director of the Build Our New Bridge Coalition, a group of large and small businesses, individuals, government officials, organized labor, and community leaders who are advocating for a new Brent Spence Bridge Corridor.

“When Kentucky lawmakers return to Frankfort this week for the remaining six weeks of the Kentucky General Assembly session, they need to enact legislation that would allow Public Private Partnerships, also known as P3, to be used for accelerate the completion and lower the cost of major transportation projects like the Brent Spence Bridge,” Davis said.

A vote on P3 will not enact tolls on the bridge, but it will allow a P3 to potentially be used on the corridor project. A financial plan for the project would then be developed, and it would be voted on during the 2016 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

“The time has come for action on one of the most important and critically needed transportation projects in the history of Greater Cincinnati,” Davis said.

Lowering the project’s price tag through innovative solutions in design, construction and financing

Splitting costs and toll revenues evenly between Ohio and Kentucky

Providing a 50 percent discount in toll rates for frequent commuters

The two states’ transportation agencies are working together to develop cost-saving solutions by March 30 and build a viable financial plan before year’s end. The plan is expected to include a public-private partnership to build, maintain and finance the project.

The bi-state team will focus on the federally approved 2012 environmental plan for the corridor, which calls for building a new bridge downtown, revamping the existing Brent Spence Bridge and improving interstate approaches in Northern Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati. The current plan would double the number of interstate lanes across the river from eight to 16, relieving congestion that causes major safety, mobility and congestion problems for the region.

“We simply cannot afford more delay, distraction and gridlock – on the interstate or in the halls of government,” Gov. Beshear said. “The Brent Spence Bridge corridor must be expanded to meet the safety and mobility needs of a growing, prosperous region. Jobs and lives depend on it.”

“We are a region that makes things and grows things so it is essential to have a robust infrastructure,” Gov. Kasich said. “Without funding for the Brent Spence Bridge, commerce and safety will suffer and we can’t have that. Our continued cooperation will help make this project a reality and keep it moving forward quickly.”

Gov. Beshear, a Democrat, and Gov. Kasich, a Republican, have been working collaboratively behind the scenes for months and the governors accelerated efforts in recent weeks because the mounting cost of delay would create a long-term financial burden that neither state can afford.

Inflation costs are driving up the project’s price tag by $7 million every month. A five-year delay in construction would increase costs by more than $400 million, driving the current total over $3 billion.

Cost-savings solutions under development

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Ohio Department of Transportation and their consultants are scrutinizing the current $2.6 billion replacement plan, identifying potential changes in design, construction and financing approaches to lower the overall costs.

Kentucky Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock said he’s confident the team will find “smart solutions and significant savings” such as those that broke a decades-long stalemate on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville and Southern Indiana.

Indiana and Kentucky transportation officials sharply reduced the project’s price tag, which moved the states from conversation to construction in 2013. The Louisville area project — which includes two new bridges, a refurbished bridge and new downtown interchange connections on both sides of the Ohio River – had a $4.1 billion cost before Beshear and then-Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels sought cost reductions and innovative approaches. The result was a $2.3 billion project, which is under construction and slated to open by the end of next year.

Cost sharing, toll limits will ensure greater fairness

The Beshear-Kasich agreement would provide a 50 percent discount in toll rates for frequent commuters who must cross the river almost daily for work, school and other needs. The discount is similar to the commitment reached on Indiana and Kentucky’s joint Ohio River Bridges Project.

“We believe the folks who use the bridges most deserve a significant discount,” Beshear said. “It’s a matter of fairness.”

The governors’ plan calls for states to split construction costs and toll revenues on the project. The 50-50 split will ensure both fairness and cooperation in developing improvements that serve citizens, businesses and travelers on both sides of the Ohio River.

Next steps forward

The two transportation teams plan to deliver recommendations for cost savings to the governors on or before March 30 and present them for public comment shortly afterward. Those comments and suggestions will be used to develop a revised construction plan this summer and a financial plan by year’s end.

Pending approval by lawmakers in early 2016, the states could select a project team as soon as late 2016 and begin construction as soon as 2017.